Editing J. Edgar Hoover Building (section)

===Planning===
Since 1935, as an element of the [[United States Department of Justice]], the FBI had been headquartered in the [[Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building|Department of Justice Building]]. In March 1962, the [[John F. Kennedy#President (1961–1963)|Kennedy administration]] proposed spending $60 million to construct a headquarters for the FBI on the north side of Pennsylvania Avenue NW opposite the Justice Department. The administration argued that the FBI, which had offices in the Justice Department building as well as 16 other sites in the capital, was too dispersed to function effectively.<ref>Jackson, Luther P. "Two New U.S. Buildings, Renovation of 26 Asked." ''Washington Post.'' March 30, 1962.</ref> Initially, prospects for the new building seemed good. A House committee approved the budget request on April 11,<ref>"Two U.S. Buildings Here Part of $161 Million Plan." ''Washington Post.'' April 11, 1962.</ref> and a Senate committee approved it a day later.<ref>"Senate Unit Backs New FBI Home." ''Washington Post.'' April 12, 1962.</ref> But the [[United States House of Representatives]] deleted the funds when the budget reached the House floor. A budget [[United States congressional conference committee|conference committee]] then voted in September to restore enough funds for site selection, planning, and preliminary design.<ref>"Cash for New FBI Home Restored to GSA Budget." ''Washington Post.'' September 21, 1962.</ref>

The site selection process for the new FBI headquarters was largely driven by factors unrelated to organizational efficiency. By 1960, Pennsylvania Avenue was marked by deteriorating homes, shops, and office buildings on the north side and the monumental [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] federal office buildings of [[Federal Triangle]] on the south side.<ref>Bednar, p. 24.</ref><ref name="Glazer151">Glazer, p. 151.</ref> Kennedy noticed the dilapidated condition of the street when his inaugural procession traversed Pennsylvania Avenue in January 1961.<ref name="Schrag68">Schrag, p. 68.</ref><ref>White, Jean M. "Avenue Grand Design Admired by Goldberg." ''Washington Post.'' September 29, 1964; White, Jean M. "Pennsylvania Ave. Designs Must Win Johnson's Support." ''Washington Post.'' December 12, 1963.</ref><ref name="Peck82">Peck, p. 82.</ref> At a [[Cabinet of the United States|cabinet]] meeting on August 4, 1961,<ref name="AdHocApproval">[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8690 Kennedy, John F. "Memorandum Concerning Improvements in federal Office Space and the Redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue." June 1, 1962. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042055/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8690 |date=March 4, 2016 }} Accessed September 30, 2012.</ref> Kennedy established the Ad Hoc Committee on Federal Office Space to recommend new structures to accommodate the growing federal government (which had constructed almost no new office buildings in the city since the Great Depression).<ref name="Peck82" /><ref>Gutheim and Lee, p. 323.</ref> Assistant Secretary of Labor [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] was assigned to help staff the committee.<ref>Schellenberg, p. 132.</ref> In the Ad Hoc Committee's final report, Moynihan proposed (in part) that Pennsylvania Avenue be redeveloped using the powers of the federal government. The report suggested razing every block north of Pennsylvania Avenue from the [[United States Capitol]] to 15th Street NW, and building a mixture of cultural buildings (such as museums and theaters), government buildings, hotels, office buildings, restaurants, and retail on these blocks.<ref name="Glazer151" /><ref name="Peck82" /><ref>Hess, p. 114-115; Hodgson, p. 79-81; Schellenberg, p. 133.</ref> Kennedy approved the report on June 1, 1962,<ref name="AdHocApproval" /> and established an informal "President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue" to draw up a plan to redevelop Pennsylvania Avenue.<ref name="Schrag68" /><ref>Hess, p. 115; Hodgson, p. 80; Von Eckardt, Wolf. "It Could Be a Grand, Glorious Avenue." ''Washington Post.'' May 31, 1964.</ref>

The site selected by GSA on January 3, 1963, for the new FBI headquarters were two city blocks bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue NW, 9th Street NW, E Street NW, and 10th Street NW. GSA administrator Bernard Boutin said the site was selected after informal consultation with the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue and the [[National Capital Planning Commission]] (NCPC; which had statutory power to approve any major construction in the D.C. metropolitan area). Boutin said construction of the new FBI building would help revitalize the Pennsylvania Avenue area as suggested by both the Ad Hoc Committee on Federal Office Space and the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue. Boutin emphasized that the design of the new structure would be in harmony with other buildings planned by the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue, and would necessitate the closing of a short section of D Street NW between 9th and 10th Streets NW.<ref name="WhiteBlock">White, Jean M. "Block to North of Pennsylvania Ave. Selected as Site for New FBI Building." ''Washington Post.'' January 3, 1963.</ref> More than 100 small retail businesses were to be evicted.<ref>Bradley, Wendell P. "New FBI Site Will Oust 100 Merchants." ''Washington Post.'' January 4, 1963.</ref>